Dry cells lack toilets or sinks or water is turned off. Typically, they're used for up to seven days to observe someone passing contraband, such as a balloon packed with drugs, that they've swallowed.

For the next week, with the storm having knocked out much of Asheville’s water service, Fahey said detainees were given bags to defecate in their cell, if they couldn’t wait to be shackled and ...